Guide to Darjeeling Tea And Why It's So Special
What is Darjeeling tea?
Darjeeling tea is a light black tea grown in the Himalayan foothills. Its delicate fruity essence is quite like champagne.
Because of its light and fruity essence, it is often called the Champagne of Tea. This Himalayan tea develops the aromatic characteristic of muscatel grapes due to its terroir and small leaf variety.
Although classified as a black tea, Darjeeling black teas are less oxidized than most. Darjeeling tea is lighter and less astringent than an Assam-grown tea from the Camellia sinensis var. assamica.
How does Darjeeling Tea taste?
Once you taste Darjeeling tea, you realize you have just experienced a tea like no other. The aroma from a cup of Darjeeling tea greets you with a soft, flowery scent. The taste is delicate, with a fruity apricot-peach flavor. Darjeeling's first flush spring tea is regarded as the world's finest black tea.
If you have recently entered the world of fine loose specialty tea, Darjeeling is a must-try. Darjeeling may seem slightly confusing initially, but you will better understand this beautiful tea once you know about Darjeeling’s three cropping periods: First Flush, Second Flush, and Autumnal Flush.
Tea-growing regions of India
India has three major tea-producing regions: Assam, Darjeeling, and Nilgiri. Like French wines, tea in India is named after the region where it is grown.
Where the tea is grown and produced has much to do with how it will taste. This sense of place is called terroir, the idea that the soil, rain, sun, moon, and climate all impact the finished tea. The waxing crescent to first quarter moon is sometimes preferred for harvesting delicate, aromatic leaves like those in first flush teas and may be favored by growers using traditional or biodynamic practices.
Assam is the world's single largest tea-growing region. Its teas are prized for their rich, malty, robust character. They make good breakfast teas and go well with milk. Assam teas with golden tips are of the finest quality.
The Darjeeling district, with its high altitude and heavy mists, is nestled in the foothills of the Himalayas. Darjeeling produces much smaller yields with three distinct cropping periods. Darjeeling teas are India's prize.
Nilgiri is often called the Southern Darling, which means 'Blue Mountain.' It is the most spectacular mountain range in South India. Nilgiri teas produce bright, brisk liquors that are flavorful and fragrant.
Growing Darjeeling Tea
In the cold, high foothills of the Himalayas lies the Darjeeling district of India. Once a transcendent place for Tibetan Buddhist Monks, it is now the northernmost district of West Bengal in eastern India.
Tea grown here is said to produce some of the highest-quality teas on the planet, often called the Champagne of Tea. Many plants are over 150 years old and still flourishing. The highly acclaimed tea is made from the smaller-leaved variety of the Chinese Camellia sinensis plant.
The Darjeeling tea-growing region has nearly ninety tea estates within seventy square miles. In addition to its small size, production is low due to its colder climate. Plant growth is slow, and harvesting is difficult, with tea plants growing on sixty or seventy-degree slopes. Less than one percent of all India’s tea is produced in Darjeeling, so there is never enough tea to meet demand.
What is Darjeeling Tea?
The tea's thinner body and more concentrated flavor are due to the higher elevations of 800 to 600 feet. The growing season's warm sunny days and cool evenings, soil chemistry, rainfall, and cloud mist synergize to create the Darjeeling tea flavor.
Darjeeling tea is hand-picked mainly by women, while the men process it in the adjoining factories. Workers harvest the tea by hand, plucking the tender young shoots' top two leaves and buds over three harvesting seasons. Each bush is harvested every four to eight days during the growing season.
All of these factors create tea unlike any other. Traditionally processed into fully oxidized black tea, the brewed tea yields a golden amber color, delicate flowery flavors, and hints of peaches and apricots.
First Flush Spring Darjeeling Tea
The First Flush refers to the first harvest of spring, which begins in March and continues through April. The first new growth, or “flush,” pushes nutrients into the young plant tips as the plant comes to life after a long, cold dormant winter.
The new growth contains the most catechins, which have antioxidant properties. They also contain the highest amount of L-theanine, an amino acid found only in tea, known for its calming effects, and caffeine, a stimulant.
You can read more about L-theanine here:
Spring tea typically has a light yellow to coppery red cup color and a delicate flowery aroma. It is a brisk, very delicate tea with a short shelf life.
Tea connoisseurs anticipate the spring season every year. Each year, depending on climate conditions, produces a slightly different tea. The quality and character of Darjeeling tea vary drastically throughout the growing season.
Brewing Spring Darjeeling Tea
Brewing Spring Darjeeling tea is more like brewing green tea than black tea, even though it is produced as black tea. The tea leaf is slightly green in color and taste. The first flush Darjeeling is delicate and should be drunk before autumn. Steep in hot water below the boil for under three minutes as you would green tea for the best results.
As the growing season progresses, the first flush teas are quite different from the second flush teas produced in the summer months.
Second Flush Summer tea
The second flush teas are harvested from May through June. They have a more robust body, a muscatel character, and powerful aromas. Second flush Darjeeling teas are more complex and unlike any other tea.
Second flush teas are excellent, well-rounded, mature, and fruity-flavored teas. They are slightly less astringent; some think they are even better than the first flush. These are my personal favorites.
Third Autumnal Flush tea
Autumnal teas are produced from October through November, following the late summer monsoons. They are similar in character to second flush teas.
The tea plants resume their growth after the monsoon season ends. The leaves are darker and produce a full-bodied, fruity-flavored tea. It is stronger than the second flush and brews a more coppery-colored tea.
Darjeeling Tea Estates
Darjeeling tea is traditionally produced as black tea, but many tea estates have begun making white, green, and oolong teas.
Of the nearly ninety estates, some of the most popular are Castleton, Glenburn, Puttabong, Rohini, Singbulli, Sungma, and Margaret's Hope. If you haven't heard of these, that's all right. Know that all teas from the Darjeeling region are among some of the best in the world.
In addition to its outstanding tea, the beautiful Glenburn Estate is famous for its visitors’ hotel and tourist attraction. Glenburn is a family-run estate that produces tea and operates a luxury boutique hotel. Visitors can experience tea production firsthand while enjoying the estate's hospitality.
I've never been, but certainly wouldn't mind going. At 3,200 feet, the views look breathtaking. I can see why the Tibetan Buddhist Monks called it their transcendent place.
If you're going to try Darjeeling First Flush spring teas, now is the time to buy the 2025 harvest. Remember, it is a lighter tea, and even though it’s processed as a black tea, brew it as if it were green tea. If you prefer a more robust black tea, wait for the Second or Summer flush.
Good Darjeeling tea is not easy to come by, so I’ve listed a few of the shops where I have purchased it. They ship specialty teas to the U.S. and internationally.
Vahdam Tea: A company based in India selling teas directly from Darjeeling, Assam, Nilgiri, Kangra, and Sikkim. They sell limited harvests from single estates.
Adagio Tea: A U.S.-based tea importer offering a spring Darjeeling tea from the Balasun Estate.
Golden Tips Tea is an Indian company specializing in Indian teas from Darjeeling and all the principal tea-growing regions.
Darjeeling teas have a distinctly delicate and sweet-smelling fragrance and flavor, but they are not overwhelming. There is a good reason they are well known as the world's best teas. I highly recommend taking the opportunity to enjoy this classic tea.
To get the most out of your tea, you may want to take the advice of Sri Lankan tea taster and former Tea Board Chairman Niraj de Mel,
You need to pay up and go after good-quality tea. You need to taste and taste because there are many similarities. To recognize good tea, you also need to gather tea literature.
—Niraj de Mel
References
Heiss, M. L., & Heiss, R. J. (2007). The story of tea: A cultural history and drinking guide. Ten Speed Press.
Gascoyne, K., Marchand, F., Desharnais, J., & Américi, H. (2018). Tea: History, terroirs, varieties (3rd ed.). Firefly Books.
Pettigrew, J., & Richardson, B. (2025). The new tea companion: A guide to teas throughout the world (3rd ed.). Benjamin Press
Gaylard, L. (2015). The tea book: Experience the world's finest teas, qualities, infusions, rituals, recipes. DK Publishing.
Excellent introduction to Darjeeling, thanks 💐.
My aunt prefers green tea to black, so we usually get Darjeeling only for guests. But we were recently treated to some of the region's oolongs and she really enjoyed them.
The ones we tried were more fruity than the Taiwan oolongs we're used to, but very pleasant to drink.
I really enjoy the floral notes of darjeeling...and so interesting to read about